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  • MDPI AG  (5)
  • Hsu, Te-Yao  (5)
  • 1
    In: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, MDPI AG, Vol. 18, No. 12 ( 2021-06-11), p. 6364-
    Abstract: Introduction: Phthalates are substances that are added to plastic products to increase their plasticity. These substances are released easily into the environment and can act as endocrine disruptors. Epidemiological studies in children have showed inconsistent findings regarding the relationship between prenatal or postnatal exposure to phthalates and the risk of allergic disease. Our hypothesis is that prenatal exposure to phthalates may contribute to the development of allergies in children. Material and methods: The objective of this study was to determine the associations between urinary phthalate metabolite concentrations in pregnant women, maternal atopic diathesis, maternal lifestyle, and cord blood IgE. Pregnant mothers and paired newborns (n = 101) were enrolled from an antenatal clinic. The epidemiologic data and the clinical information were collected using standard questionnaires and medical records. The maternal blood and urine samples were collected at 24–28 weeks gestation, and cord blood IgE, IL-12p70, IL-4, and IL-10 levels were determined from the newborns at birth. The link between phthalates and maternal IgE was also assessed. To investigate the effects of phthalates on neonatal immunity, cord blood mononuclear cells (MNCs) were used for cytokine induction in another in vitro experiment. Results: We found that maternal urine monoethyl phthalate (MEP) (a metabolite of di-ethyl phthalate (DEP)) concentrations are positively correlated with the cord blood IgE of the corresponding newborns. The cord blood IL-12p70 levels of mothers with higher maternal urine MEP groups (high DEP exposure) were lower than mothers with low DEP exposure. In vitro experiments demonstrated that DEP could enhance IL-4 production of cord blood MNCs rather than adult MNCs. Conclusion: Prenatal DEP exposure is related to neonatal IgE level and alternation of cytokines relevant to Th1/Th2 polarization. This suggests the existence of a link between prenatal exposure to specific plasticizers and the future development of allergies.
    Type of Medium: Online Resource
    ISSN: 1660-4601
    Language: English
    Publisher: MDPI AG
    Publication Date: 2021
    detail.hit.zdb_id: 2175195-X
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  • 2
    In: Microorganisms, MDPI AG, Vol. 11, No. 5 ( 2023-04-29), p. 1171-
    Abstract: Preterm birth is a major challenge in pregnancy worldwide. Prematurity is the leading cause of death in infants and may result in severe complications. Nearly half of preterm births are spontaneous, but do not have recognizable causes. This study investigated whether the maternal gut microbiome and associated functional pathways might play a key role in spontaneous preterm birth (sPTB). Two hundred eleven women carrying singleton pregnancies were enrolled in this mother-child cohort study. Fecal samples were freshly collected at 24–28 weeks of gestation before delivery, and the 16S ribosomal RNA gene was sequenced. Microbial diversity and composition, core microbiome, and associated functional pathways were then statistically analyzed. Demographic characteristics were collected using records from the Medical Birth Registry and questionnaires. The result showed that the gut microbiome of mothers with over-weight (BMI ≥ 24) before pregnancy have lower alpha diversity than those with normal BMI before pregnancy. A higher abundance of Actinomyces spp. was filtered out from the Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) effect size (LEfSe), Spearman correlation, and random forest model, and was inversely correlated with gestational age in sPTB. The multivariate regression model showed that the odds ratio of premature delivery was 3.274 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.349; p = 0.010] in the group with over-weight before pregnancy with a cutoff Hit% 〉 0.022 for Actinomyces spp. The enrichment of Actinomyces spp. was negatively correlated with glycan biosynthesis and metabolism in sPTB by prediction from the Investigation of Communities by Reconstruction of Unobserved States (PICRUSt) platform. Maternal gut microbiota showing a lower alpha diversity, increased abundance of Actinomyces spp., and dysregulated glycan metabolism may be associated with sPTB risk.
    Type of Medium: Online Resource
    ISSN: 2076-2607
    Language: English
    Publisher: MDPI AG
    Publication Date: 2023
    detail.hit.zdb_id: 2720891-6
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  • 3
    In: Journal of Clinical Medicine, MDPI AG, Vol. 7, No. 11 ( 2018-11-21), p. 460-
    Abstract: Objectives: The purpose of this article is to investigate the estimated blood loss in pregnant women undergoing cesarean section and placental extirpation to treat abnormal placentation and compare the outcomes of those who underwent prophylactic transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE) with those who did not. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on 17 pregnant women diagnosed with abnormal placentation in 2001–2018 in a single tertiary center. The patients were diagnosed by surgical finding, ultrasound, or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). These patients were divided into two groups: a prophylactic TAE group (11 patients) and a control group (6 patients). In the former group, prophylactic TAE of the bilateral uterine artery (UA) and/or internal iliac artery (IIA) was performed immediately after delivery of the infant. The placenta was removed in both groups. The primary outcomes were estimated blood loss (EBL), units of packed red blood cell (pRBC) transfusion, operative time, whether hysterectomy was performed, whether the patient was transferred to the intensive care unit (ICU), and hospitalization days. The secondary outcome was maternal complications. Results: Patients who received prophylactic TAE had significantly reduced intraoperative blood loss (990.9 ± 701.7 mL vs. 3448.3 ± 1767.4 mL, p = 0.018). Units of pRBC transfusion, operative time, hysterectomy, transfer to the ICU, and postoperative hospitalization days were not significantly different between the two groups. Thirteen patients (9 in the TAE group and 4 in the control group) received a blood transfusion during the operation. Three patients underwent a hysterectomy (1 in the TAE group and 2 in the control group). Five patients were transferred to the ICU (3 in the TAE group and 2 in the control group) for maternal complications or monitoring. In the prophylactic TAE group, 3 patients (27%) had a subsequent pregnancy within the next 5 years. Conclusions: Prophylactic TAE was safe and effective for reducing intraoperative hemorrhage from removing an invasive placenta in patients with abnormal placentation.
    Type of Medium: Online Resource
    ISSN: 2077-0383
    Language: English
    Publisher: MDPI AG
    Publication Date: 2018
    detail.hit.zdb_id: 2662592-1
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  • 4
    In: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, MDPI AG, Vol. 17, No. 11 ( 2020-06-04), p. 4010-
    Abstract: In the real world, dynamic changes in air pollutants and meteorological factors coexist simultaneously. Studies identifying the effects of individual pollutants on acute exacerbation (AE) of asthma may overlook the health effects of the overall combination. A comprehensive study examining the influence of air pollution and meteorological factors is required. Asthma AE data from emergency room visits were collected from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. Complete monitoring data for air pollutants (SO2; NO2; O3; CO; PM2.5; PM10) and meteorological factors were collected from the Environmental Protection Agency monitoring stations. A bi-directional case-crossover analysis was used to investigate the effects of air pollution and meteorological factors on asthma AE. Among age group divisions, a 1 °C temperature increase was a protective factor for asthma ER visits with OR = 0.981 (95% CI, 0.971–0.991) and 0.985 (95% CI, 0.975–0.994) for pediatric and adult patients, respectively. Children, especially younger females, are more susceptible to asthma AE due to the effects of outdoor air pollution than adults. Meteorological factors are important modulators for asthma AE in both asthmatic children and adults. When studying the effects of air pollution on asthma AE, meteorological factors should be considered.
    Type of Medium: Online Resource
    ISSN: 1660-4601
    Language: English
    Publisher: MDPI AG
    Publication Date: 2020
    detail.hit.zdb_id: 2175195-X
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  • 5
    In: Nutrients, MDPI AG, Vol. 13, No. 8 ( 2021-08-13), p. 2780-
    Abstract: l-Arginine is an important nutrient in the infant diet that significantly regulates the maturation of the immune system in neonates, including the maturation of CD4+ T cells. The biological activities of CD4+ T cells differ substantially between neonates and adults, and these differences may be governed by epigenetic processes. Investigating these differences and the causative processes may help understand neonatal and developmental immunity. In this study, we compared the functional DNA methylation profiles in CD4+ T cells of neonates and adults, focusing on the role of l-arginine supplementation. Umbilical cord blood and adult CD4+ T cells were cultured with/without l-arginine treatment. By comparing DNA methylation in samples without l-arginine treatment, we found that CD4+ T cells of neonatal cord blood generally showed higher DNA methylation than those of adults (average CpG methylation percentage 0.6305 for neonate and 0.6254 for adult, t-test p-value 〈 0.0001), suggesting gene silencing in neonates. By examining DNA methylation patterns of CpG dinucleotides induced by l-arginine treatment, we found that more CpG dinucleotides were hypomethylated and more genes appeared to be activated in neonatal T-cells as compared with adult. Genes activated by l-arginine stimulation of cord blood samples were more enriched regarding immune-related pathways. CpG dinucleotides at IL-13 promoter regions were hypomethylated after l-arginine stimulation. Hypomethylated CpG dinucleotides corresponded to higher IL-13 gene expression and cytokine production. Thus, DNA methylation partially accounts for the mechanism underlying differential immune function in neonates. Modulatory effects of l-arginine on DNA methylation are gene-specific. Nutritional intervention is a potential strategy to modulate immune function of neonates.
    Type of Medium: Online Resource
    ISSN: 2072-6643
    Language: English
    Publisher: MDPI AG
    Publication Date: 2021
    detail.hit.zdb_id: 2518386-2
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